The Big News From Nintendo's Pre-TGS Conference

Nintendo really piled on the announcements one after the other at its pre-TGS conference earlier today, announcing several new games, updates to the 3DS eShop and Streetpass, and the big one: Monster Hunter 4. We also got some new details on some of the most hotly-anticipated Nintendo games of this year, including Skyward Sword and Mario Kart 7.

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Things started off on a light note, with Miyamoto taking to the stage with sword and shield in hand in an echo of the E3 2004 Twilight Princess reveal – although he did remark that performing in front of a Japanese audience was considerably more embarrassing. During a brief Skyward Sword demo, Miyamoto revealed that the game will have 50 to 100 hours of gameplay, with a boss battle challenge mode and a second playthrough padding out the adventure. The game will also have a hint system, like Ocarina of Time 3D's Sheikah Stones.

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After that, the game announcements just kept coming. We saw a new Mario Tennis 3DS game, which we're really hoping will be developed by Camelot (we can dream). There was a new Fire Emblem game was announced, representing the strategy RPG series' first outing on a handheld in many, many years. We got release dates in Japan for Super Mario Kart and Super Mario 3D Land and a release month for Kid Icarus. Japanese-focussed games included a new Friend Collection, a new Love Plus game, Gundam Generation 3D, and Dynasty Warriors VS.

But the real news came right at the end of the conference, with Capcom's Ryozo Tsujimoto joining Nintendo President Satoru Iwara on stage. He dropped some more details on Monster Hunter Tri G for the 3DS – the boat peripheral was conspicuous in its absence – but then came the big surprise: an awesome reveal trailer for Monster Hunter 4 for 3DS. It wasn't clear whether the game will be a 3DS exclusive, but if it is, that's a huge, huge blow to the Vita in Japan.

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Nintendo made a huge appeal to female gamers during this conference, announcing a pink 3DS (because we ladies only buy things in pink, right?) alongside several Japanese titles with broad female appeal, including Girls' Mode (a fashion game), a very, very cute Hatsune Miku-based music game (Miku being, if you're not aware, the most famous imaginary person in the world), and two dating RPGs designed for both genders, rather than just lonely Japanese men.

Iwata also hinted at some wee details about updates to the 3DS hardware and firmware. You'll soon be able to make 3D videos with your 3DS. New Streetpass games are incoming, along with an update to the 3DS e-Shop and the Mii Plaza.

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Mario Kart 7, meanwhile, got itself a new character and some new power-ups in the form of Lakitu, a Fire Flower and a Metal Cap-like item. You'll also be able to drive in first-person with the gyroscope, if you can overcome the implicit nausea. Super Mario 3D Land, Animal Crossing 3DS, Paper Mario, Kid Icarus and Luigi's Mansion 2 were also shown off in updated form.

We knew that the Wii U wouldn't figure in this conference, but there's so much going on with the 3DS right now that its absence was barely felt today. We'll be here all week bringing you all the biggest news from the Tokyo Game Show, from which Nintendo is sadly absent – but this conference was a strong, confident, and very Japan-centric showing from the kings of the Japanese games industry.